GLBT DIGEST - September 17, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Matthew Shepard: Laramie Killing Given Epilogue a Decade Later
Ten years after the notorious murder of a gay college student, a theater company is returning to Wyoming. For Mr. Kaufman and his colleagues, returning to Laramie, a town of 25,000 near the Colorado border, is far from a theatrical exercise. They plan to use the new interviews to write an epilogue to the play before the 10th anniversary of Mr. Shepard's death, on Oct. 12; it will be added to the published version of the script and will be included in future performances of "The Laramie Project," which has had about 2,000 productions since it opened off Broadway in 2000. [...] Mr. Kaufman does not hide his feelings easily. After an interview this weekend with Laramie's mayor, Klaus Hanson, Mr. Kaufman shook with anger that Mr. Hanson was not doing anything to commemorate the anniversary. ("Now that you have touched upon it," the mayor said, "I will need to rethink it.") Mr. Kaufman's expressed dismay that there is no hate-crimes law in Wyoming, as he thinks there should be. He and others also said that some in Laramie were no longer speaking of Mr. Shepard's death as a hate crime but rather as a rug-fueled robbery gone wrong. [...] The university hosts a four-day Shepard Symposium for Social Justice each spring, and there is talk of creating a degree minor in gay and lesbian studies. And yet, to the bewilderment of some people here, there is no memorial to Mr. Shepard in Laramie. The log fence has been torn down where he lay dying for 18 hours on Oct. 7, 1998. There is no marker. Wild grass blows in the wind. The Fireside bar - where Mr. Shepard was lured away by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who are serving life terms for murder - is also gone, sold and renamed years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/theater/17laramie.html?hp

-Pressured School District Reverses, Allowing Play on Murder of Gay Student
After a week of public outcry over the school district's decision to block Ocean Township High School's drama club from performing "The Laramie Project," Superintendent Thomas M. Pagano decided Thursday to let the play go on this fall.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/nyregion/11laramie.html

-Albany G.O.P. Leader Is Guest of Gay Group
Dean G. Skelos, the State Senate majority leader and the Albany Legislature's top Republican, reiterated his opposition to gay marriage on Tuesday night but attended a fund-raiser for a prominent Republican gay and lesbian group as he sought to broaden his party's appeal for the fall elections.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/nyregion/17gays.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse

-Young Gay Rites
LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27young-t.html?scp=4&sq=gay&st=cse

-Levi's, Unbuttoned and Out of the Closet
The Levi's 501 button-fly line of jeans sold by Levi Strauss & Company is joining with the Logo unit of MTV Networks, owned by Viacom, for a campaign called "Logo Unbuttoned." Promotions for the campaign are scheduled to begin on Tuesday on Logo, a network aimed at gay and lesbian viewers that since its introduction in June 2005 has signed sponsorship deals with other mainstr team marketers like Orbitz, Stolichnaya and Subaru. The "Logo Unbuttoned" title echoes the phrase "Live Unbuttoned," which is the theme of a worldwide campaign for Levi's 501 that was introduced in July by a Levi Strauss agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/media/15adcol.html?scp=5&sq=gay&st=cse


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Theater: In All-Male 'Romeo & Juliet,' A Coy Affair
A rose by any other name might smell as sweet -- but how about a Juliet when played by a James? Shakespeare Theatre Company's bet for its new incarnation of "Romeo and Juliet" is that two of the dewiest tragic lovers in all of Western drama can go at it, man to man. Adopting a hiring strategy that's been popularized of late by London classical troupes -- and, of course, stretches back to Shakespeare's own time -- the troupe casts men in roles up and down the line, from the serving girls to the Ladies Capulet and Montague.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603601.html

-Say Cheese: 12 Photos That Should Never Have Been Posted Online
What were they thinking? These 12 folks lost jobs, reputations, or their freedom after dumb photos they put up on the Web came to light.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/15/AR2008091500121.html


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Megan Fox: Girls are sexy
Megan Fox has nothing to hide. The 22-year-old Transformers star opened up to GQ about her love life. We mean really. Fox, who appears on the October cover, said she was in the relationship with a female stripper named Nikita when she was 18 and first living in Los Angeles solo.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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Florida Blade
http://www.floridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gay man from Jamaica receives political asylum in U.S.
Court rules man would face torture, possible execution if forced to return home. David Bromfield claimed if he was ordered to return home to Jamaica, he would suffer torture and possibly death in the notoriously hostile-to-gays environment of the country. Jamaica actively prosecutes GLBT citizens, enforcing the "Offenses Against the Person Act," which prohibits acts of "gross indecency," which is generally interpreted as any kind of physical intimacy between men, in public or in private. The government punishes homosexuals by up to 10 years' imprisonment. Originally his plea was denied, but he appealed and the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with his assertation. The court granted him political asylum, citing a 2005 U.S. State Department Country Report for Jamaica that found a "culture of severe discrimination" in the country against homosexuals, rife with physical attacks from citizens and police. Citizens from Latin America and the Caribbean have often found legal asylum in the U.S. based on sexual orientation. At the Miami Beach Public Library, law firms host seminars on the legal process for asylum for GLBT foreigners.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#21071

-Palin 'worst thing to happen to America since 9-11'
Comedian Margaret Cho rips GOP on gay rights
"Someone who has no thoughts about women's rights and who wants to send women back to the Stone Age? You might as well not let women vote. I came out of the Democratic convention feeling so proud and excited, but now I fear that our country is so backwards in so many ways and the ignorance that exists is greater than we can even imagine." Cho singled out Palin in part because the Alaska governor's church has encouraged discredited reparative therapy techniques to help gay people become straight. "The reach of homophobia and hatred is so wide, it's disturbing how deep it is," Cho said.
"Now with Sarah Palin, who is so anti-gay and advocated camps for them to go to be brainwashed, she is a real sign of something very wrong with this country, a real problem. We are battling homophobia on so many fronts."
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=21061

-Trial 'imminent' in DNC gay bias case
Last effort at mediation fails
It now appears inevitable that Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean will face off in court against his former gay outreach director, Donald Hitchcock.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20973

-Kameny Papers archive opens
Activist helped launch modern gay rights movement
Two years after local gay activist Frank Kameny moved his archives to the Library of Congress, those papers are now available to researchers.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=21051


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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Visibility Matters: Lindsay Lohan and the New Definition of "Out"
Visibility Matters is a new monthly column by AfterEllen.com Founder Sarah Warn about larger trends affecting lesbian/bi women in entertainment and the media.
http://www.365gay.com/uncategorized/lindsay-lohan-and-the-new-definition-of-out/

-Rabbi among Obama relatives
Here's something about Barack Obama you probably didn't know: He's related to a rabbi.
http://www.365gay.com/news/rabbi-among-obama-relatives/

-Palin being kept under wraps
Asked about her refusal to turn over e-mails to an Alaska investigator, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin looked up, smiled - and then stepped wordlessly into her waiting car.
http://www.365gay.com/news/palin-being-kept-under-wraps/

-NBC's Bob Costas Discusses Gays in Sports
On August 23rd at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, the only out gay male athlete at those games, won Olympic gold in men's platform diving. In doing so, he prevented a gold medal sweep by the Chinese in men's diving and he did it in most dramatic fashion: winning on his final dive and by posting the highest recorded score ever for an Olympic dive by a man.
http://www.365gay.com/features/bob-costas-discusses-gays-in-sports/

-Lesbian mom sentenced to life in toddler's death
A New York City woman has been sentenced to 20 years to life for her role in the killing of her 23-month-old son. Her partner already is serving a prison term in connection with the slaying.
http://www.365gay.com/news/lesbian-mom-sentenced-to-life-in-toddlers-death/

-Gay frat brothers, sorority sisters to hold convention
For the first time, LGBT campus Greeks from across the country will hold a conference. "Greek houses were once considered a primary source of homophobia on college campuses," said conference co-chair Justin Hager, who is openly gay and a founding member of the Tau chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity International.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-frat-brothers-sorority-sisters-to-hold-convention/

-Evangelical pastor: Straight couples should refuse to sign Calif. licenses
An evangelical pastor is advising couples not to sign California's gender-neutral marriage licenses as a protest. After the California Supreme Court struck down the ban on gay marriage in May, the state amended its marriage licenses, replacing "Bride" and 'Groom" with "Party A" and "Party B."
http://www.365gay.com/news/evangelical-pastor-straight-couples-should-refuse-to-sign-calif-licenses/

-Kentucky court blasts gay co-parent ruling
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has blasted a lower court judge who allowed a woman to co-parent her same-sex partner's child, but said it was powerless to overturn the ruling because of a technicality.
http://www.365gay.com/news/kentucky-court-blasts-gay-co-parent-ruling/


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Kentucky Court Rules Against Stepparent Adoptions by Gays and Lesbians
A strongly worded opinion from the Kentucky court of appeals has barred judges from granting same-sex partners the right to adopt children as stepparents, reports The [Louisville] Courier-Journal.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid61565.asp

-McCain Rips Into Obama for Streisand Concert
Continuing with his attempt to convince American voters that Democraticpresidential hopeful Barack Obama is little more than a celebrity, Republican opponent John McCain suggested today that flying off to attend a benefit concert headlined by Barbra Streisand is at odds with the man of the people style campaign Obama has been running.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid61634.asp

-Gay Bar Becomes Safe Haven in Ike Aftermath
A gay bar in Galveston, Texas, has proved to be one of the few bastions of safety after Hurricane Ike ripped across the Gulf Coast island. Robert's Lafitte was planning a drag show and Tina Turner sing-along as the city urged its last remaining residents to leave on Monday.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid61618.asp

-Rochester Cops Sue City After Investigation
A group of police officers in Rochester, N.Y., plan to sue the city and the police department after being accused of improperly handling an alleged gay bashing in 2007. Officers David Macfall, Stephen Tortora, Stephen Ward, and Michael Yodice claim they were targets of internal investigations because of pressure from police and city officials, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported Tuesday. Internal affairs investigators told the officers that the probe was a result of pressure from city officials.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid61614.asp


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Supporters of Prop 8 pulling in big bucks because of Palin nomination
Link: Pam's House Blend
by Pam Spaulding
We're now down to the nail-biting days and it looks like what we feared most is occurring -- the nomination of Sarah Palin as veep has energized The Base to pour money into "saving marriage" in California. They see it as a last stand. I'm going to donate tonight - we can't lose this one. Karen Ocamb filed this report on Sirius OutQ News today: Since Republican presidential nominee John McCain picked evangelical Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate - the Yes on 8 campaign has leapt ahead in the fundraising arena - raising around five million dollars since Sept. 1.

-Group Won't Fight Ark. Gay Adoption Ban In Court
Link: KTHV | Little Rock, AR
Opponents of a measure that would ban unmarried couples living together from dopting or fostering children are dropping plans to challenge the proposal in court to keep it off the ballot in the fall. Debbie Willhite, lead consultant for Arkansas Families First, said Tuesday that the organization decided against challenging the language of the proposed initiated act or the signatures that were submitted to place it on the ballot.

-LDS donate millions to fight gay marriage
Link: Daily Herald
Church members, mostly from California, have made individual donations close to $5 million in support of Proposition 8, counting only donations of more than $1,000, according to one Web site. The proposition is on the November ballot and would change the state's constitution to allow for marriage only between a man and a woman. [...] There have also been 25,000 volunteers going door to door each weekend to inform voters about their point of view.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Christian Institute targets homophobic bullying group
An academic conference organised by a group that works to combat homophobic bullying in schools has been attacked by fundamentalist Christians.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9020.html

-Vice President's wife wants lesbian daughter to be free to marry
The wife of the Vice President of the United States has made a rare public comment about her lesbian daughter. Lynne Cheney was asked about gay marriage during an interview on CBS television to promote her new book We the People: The Story of the Constitution. Presenter Harry Smith mentioned the recent wedding of Star Trek actor George Takei in California, where same-sex couples can now marry after a state Supreme Court ruling.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9019.html

-Obama "blessed with many openly gay and lesbian friends"
The Democratic nominee for President of the United States has said that if elected he will work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans rights.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9018.html

-German gays on the rise, census shows
Statisticians have claimed that the number of same-sex couples in Germany has doubled in the past decade. A micro-census conducted by federal statisticians in Wiesbaden say that the number of gay couples appearing in the figures has risen by 30,000 to 68,000 since 2006.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9015.html


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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-FL: Beckner Could Make History Against Blair
Joe O'Neill | Tribune Columnist | South Tampa Tribune
Until his recent win in the Democratic primary, District 6 Hillsborough County Commission candidate Kevin Beckner had never run for office. Never felt compelled to. In his 10 years in Tampa, the 37-year-old Carrollwood resident was settling into a career as a certified financial planner. The Indiana native was content to build a client base from his (then) Ybor City - and now South West Shore - office and put down entrepreneurial roots in his adopted county.
Then Beckner had an epiphany amid an ironic awakening.

-The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time)
Out.com
Celebrated writer Andrew Holleran once said, "If you love music, you may find yourself in the curious position of following a young man not because he is sexually interesting (or even sexually possible) but because the radio he carries is playing 'Do or Die.'" An astute remark from a gay man who understands the stimulating, unifying effects great music can have on its listeners. But what makes an album great? And perhaps even more critical for this list, what makes a great album gay?

-For Obama, McCain, View From the Pews Shows White-Black Divide
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan and Christopher Stern | Bloomberg
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) - In the U.S. presidential race, where voters stand depends on where they sit, particularly on Sunday morning. The Reverend Dwight Jones, 60, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of South Richmond, Virginia, asked ushers to pass out voter-registration forms in addition to collection plates, emphasizing the momentous nature of the campaign. "If you know anyone who's not registered, get them signed up, your friends and your enemies," Jones said. "This is a historic election."


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Forwarded from Gay Asylum - UK
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gayasylum/messages?o=1
Go to this link for the following articles:

-URGENT: Babi Badalov detained and to be deported
I am passing on this message from the friends of the Azerbaijani artist and gay asylum seeker Babi Badalov. Please support him in whatever way you can.
Protesting to UK embassies has proved effective in the past!
Dear friends of Babi
My name is Hywel Bishop, excuse me writing from Babi's email address. He has given me his password so that I could contact you all. I have some bad news! Babi was detained yesterday (tuesday) when attending his weekly signing at the UK Border Agency building in Cardiff. He is now in Rumney police station in Cardiff and is due to be take to a detention centre very soon. He has been given deportation directions for this Saturday 20 September. Please rest assured that all of us here in Cardiff who know and love Babi are doing all that we can to stop this deportation. It will NOT take place! [...] Babi thread on LGBT Asylum News
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/search/label/Babakhan%20Badalov

-In a historic religious ruling, a Sunni Muslim clergyman issued a fatwa that makes it religiously acceptable for the transgenders to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. The Iranian English Speaking channel Press TV (www.presstv.com) announced the news based on a story in the Arabic news portal Elaph . the state-run Iranian news channel described the ruling as a progressive fatwa. This is the first time in the Persian Gulf region that a religious authority allows the gender reassignment for transgenders. The ruling of Rev. Sheik Rashid Saad Alalimi is in defiance of a 2007 legislation backed by the Islamic caucus of the Kuwaiti Parliament, which made it illegal for Kuwaitis to dress as members of the opposite sex. In his ruling, the Sheik made a distinction between transgenders and homosexuals and described the former as people with legitimate medical cases, unlike gays who violate religious laws and commit sodomy. You can read the entire story below:
http://www.elaph.com/Web/NewsPapers/2008/9/366013.htm


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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-Planned Parenthood Rips into McCain for Sex-Ed Smear Campaign
Planned Parenthood defends Barack Obama's record on sex education after a nasty John McCain ad suggesting the Democrat supports teaching kindergartners about sex. In an ad, they say that Obama was helping children protect themselves from sex offenders, while McCain seemingly doesn't care.
"Every eight minutes a child is sexually abused," the narrator says. "That's why Barack Obama supported legislation to teach children how to protect themselves. Now John McCain is twisting the facts and attacking Senator Obama. Doesn't McCain want our children to protect ourselves from sex offenders? Or after 26 years in Washington, is he just another politician who will say anything to get elected?"
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/98697/


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Anything But Straight
www.waynebesen.com
by Wayne Besen

-Log Cabin Republicans Should Disband
Until now, I have always thought there was a place for the Log Cabin Republicans within the GLBT movement. There was a need for a group that could advocate from inside the belly of the beast and do the dirty work that few intellectually honest people wanted to do. The logic behind this organization was that it made more sense to fight for the soul of the Republican Party than run away and support the Democrats -- which members of this organization have traditionally disagreed with on fiscal and national security matters. However, the rationale for this organization has significantly eroded, as the GOP has shown itself to be corrupt, inept and incapable of good governance. It has become the party of cronyism, debt and diabolical deceit, while securing its power by enthusiastically pandering to its anti-gay base.
www.waynebesen.com


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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/
Go to this link for the following article:

-Increasing Share of Colleges Offer Partner Benefits
The percentage of colleges offering domestic partner benefits grew gradually in 2007-8 - a year in which the benefits received intense scrutiny from critics of gay marriage. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources surveyed colleges and universities and found that 42 percent offer health care benefits for same-sex domestic partners, up from 40 percent a year ago. In addition, 34 percent of institutions provide the benefits to opposite sex domestic partners, up from 31 percent a year ago.
In states where voters have approved measures to ban gay marriage, domestic partner benefits have faced legal and political challenges in the last year, but many institutions have shifted the way benefits are provided to avoid cutting off health insurance to employees' partners.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/17/cupa

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